Inspired by Ray and his Dux pens, I came across this in the local LIDL store on Saturday. LIDL are a German supermarket chain and in the UK they are at the lower end of the market with off main location stores, but represent good value although the brands are often unfamiliar in the UK.

This Pelikan was on sale for £2.99 including the cartridges in the pack as you can see. It also has the benefit of "stainless steel feathers" as you can see from the description on the back. Bit of a problem in translation I think

I found a reference here: http://www.ruettinger-web.de/e-pelikan-modell-jugend.html But not this version.

Now should I throw caution to the wind, open it up and test it, or save it for posterity?




Jim

Edit: Fixed images not loading

That's hilarious, Jim! They built a Lidl just across the road from my office a while back, and I've been staring at its ugliness ever since. But now I have a reason to cross the threshold...
Neil

I always remember the words of Jeremy Hardy on teh News Quiz: "Lidl makes Somerfield look lilke Waitrose."

Ray

Anyway, open it up! I'm quite suprised as I'd expect some generic brand to be selling in Lidls .

Oh, go on Jim, you've got to open it up and try it out. What with this and the Dux pens we'll soon have you cured of your misguided love of Parker 51s

BTW, what is the pattern on the pen meant to be? Wonder what our local Lidl has in stock.

What with Lidl being German, then Pelikan is their local generic brand!

High quality store Lidl, I even get their twice weekly bargains email

Don't think the "51" and 61 collection will be appearing in The Marketplace or on eBay anytime shortly, but who knows

Anyway, I think there might be an opening ceremony sometime later on.

As to the pattern, I have no clue, but there are 3 more to collect

Jim

Edit for typo

Enjoy the opening ceremony. I hope that you also picked up a £1.99 bottle of pomagne while you were there.
Neil

Anyone else smiling at the fact that French Waterman has a "Kultur" model, and German Pelikan as a "Culture" one ?

smiling.. maybe not. I do notice that people get them mixed up now and then.

If only Pelikan's school pens were that cheap in brick-and-mortar shops in the USA!
Vroman's here in Pasadena just started selling the Pelikano for $17 USD and the Pelikano Junior for $11.

I decided I just had to pop into Lidl and so I picked up the last one they had. Still got no idea what the pattern on it is meant to be! Random green with tiny squares. Anyway, wonderfully smooth nib, albeit a little broad for my liking. Certainly can't complain at anything that costs £2.99.

Gottcha Carrie

I just knew that somebody would not be able to resist at that price!

I was really surprised at how well it writes, so much so that I have got to thinking about a converter. Trouble is that is going to cost twice as much as the pen So can I be bothered?

Don't know how it will last the course, but then again it is designed to be disposable I suppose.

Jim

PS But have you subscribed to the Lidl email yet, so you know when they get more stock in?

Hi Goodwhiskers,

Don't think they have many left now, seems that Carrie got the last one at her local store, but if they repeat the offer I will look into buying a few and posting them at cost to the US. Total cost is going to be about £5 ish I would think, so about $8.50??

Jim

Hi Jim,

Checking just now,
exactly £5.00 GBP is $9.04 after PayPal's 2.5% exchange fee,
while £5.50 is $9.95
and £6.00 is $10.59.

Because I have interest but only a tiny ambition for this (I would only request two :ph34r: ), perhaps this deal might need to involve more requesters over here.

Anyone else interested?

Hi Steve,

Tell you what, I have to go past Lidl later today, so if I have five minutes I will drop in and see what is cooking. If I can get any I will pick them up, I will then pack up a couple and see what the weigh and get the exact postage. You can then make a decision or anybody else for that matter.

I am not about to turn this into a business venture, I got way too many problems running a telecoms company to start into selling pens for a living But, anything to help my fellow FPN'ers if I can.

So no promises no pack drill, but if they are available then we take it from there.

Jim

PS for £2.99, the pen writes exceedingly well, the nib is medium broad, but smoother than I expected

Excellent! I'm in.

I have an old Pelikan school pen from many years ago that must have cost around the same or less. It was purchased in France, and has pictures of saxophones on the sides with the word "cool" on it too. (Right now it is in a drawer 5000 miles from me, so I can't photograph it...) But it writes very nicely indeed (and the nib is not as wide as on the more expensive modern Pelikanos).

Incidentally, for anyone who likes these nibs: The Czech brand Centropen makes "student" pens and similar models with nibs that are quite similar. They are iridium tipped and surprisingly smooth, consistent performers. They run around two US dollars in stores in the Czech Republic, and I wouldn't be surprised if they turned up in a Lidl in the UK or elsewhere. If you see one, snatch it up. You'll like it if you like Pelikan's cheap nibs.

Here's the link:

http://www.centropen.cz/start.php?menu=6&sekce1=7&pm=sekce

It is the "student" and "jupiter" models that have the pelikan-like nibs.

I reget to say that,

When I got there, the cupboard was bare !!

No more Bargain Pelikans until the next time

Sorry, regards,

Jim

Thanks anyway! I do appreciate your friendly offer.
I'd be interested in such a deal in the future.

Hi Jim,

Nice purchase!

Actually a Pelikan "Culture" was the second fountain pen I bought. I purchased my first FP, a Sheaffer "No Nonsense" in the mid 1970's but I waited about 16 years to get my second. I bought my "Culture" at a grocery store (also for very little money) in Vienna. It is a good reliable writer...and yes, I wish they were more readily available here in Canada. Once in a while you will see them on eBay or at pen shows (where I got my 2nd one), so they are out there!

Thanks for posting the photos.

Cheers,
~Maja

I saw those in Lidl a while ago but I didn't get one because I didn't like any of the designs they had. I did pick up a few notebooks though. A5 wirebound and perforated, squared, lovely smooth paper (like thin Clairefontaine), 160 pages, all for 75p - perfect!

My boyfriend actually used to work in Lidl when he was a teenager and his manager there was sacked for dealing drugs on the premises! That's Lidl for you...

That is one of the benefits of being colour blind much design just passes me by.

The only drugs I buy in Lidl comes in bottles and is called Pils Great genuine German stuff. I think that Lidl, and Aldi as well, get a bad reputation more from their locations than anything. Some of the stuff is good value, the Pelikan is a good example, does exactly what it says on the packet and I won't be heartbroken if somebody 'borrows' it off my desk.

Jim

I agree, I got a GFX tablet for £15 after hearing somebody mention it on a forum. Really good bargains to be had.

Lidl is a great place for bargains and the food is good too. People just haven't figured out that it's not meant to be a supermarket.

Hi Jim,
So how does it write?Is it wet or dry?
I have Pelikano and Future's.Pelikano is very dry but Future have wet nib.I love Future's they are nice writers and reasonably writers.

Take Care,
Emrecan

Hi,

Emrecan, Pelikanos, Futures, and Level pens use the same nib, and so does the GO!.

It looks like there is some inconsistency, so you must have them tweaked to your taste.

Dillon

Hi Emrecan,

My thoughts are that it writes on the dry side, but that is a feature of most cartridge pens IMHO.

Having said that I have not written more than a couple of pages with it so it might get better as it writes in. What I might do is floss the nib and see if that improves matters. I just use a bit of old 35mm film that has been cleaned.

Hope this helps,

Jim